Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Washington > Seattle area
 [Register]
Seattle area Seattle and King County Suburbs
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 02-03-2014, 10:49 AM
 
40 posts, read 142,381 times
Reputation: 107

Advertisements

I moved away to NYC a month ago and just returned for the weekend to celebrate the Hawks win. Two quick observations: first, people have no sense of humor in Seattle. I can't believe how outgoing I am compared to my friends here. Don't know if this is something I've only recently developed but it's like hanging out with a bunch of zombies now. I love my friends but wish they'd lighten the hell up. On that note, it's hard to make friends when you don't know how to laugh around strangers. I think everyone is so damn serious all the time that it probably impedes forming new relationships and lends to "the Freeze".

Another observation: people go through a really weird social withdrawal during the winter. Just found out that practically none of my friends have hung out with eachother since I left. I asked what they've been doing instead and got the same response: just laying low. Sounds like they haven't made any effort to be social with eachother without the common denominator around (me).

It's also funny how everyone keeps asking me about the weather too, and comparing it to Seattle like they're looking for validation. Yeah it's cold in NYC but people still manage to make it out and socialize. What's the point of having "perfect" weather if you're just going to sit at home alone the whole time?

Love my town, glad we got our win, but I completely understand the complaints against it. Unfortunately I don't think it's going to change any time soon, so people need to suck it up or move.

Last edited by 206traveler; 02-03-2014 at 11:01 AM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 02-03-2014, 06:45 PM
 
2,401 posts, read 3,247,051 times
Reputation: 1837
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rcsligar View Post
I am a freshman in college actually, which I suppose proves your point more.
Yup! Except that maybe moving at this point would be more difficult. But then again if you don't even like the school, why not?

The thing about Seattle is, it is hard to be accepted here as a newcomer, but after a while people get used to your presence and will get closer to you. It took me more than a year. Since you're in college it probably will not take that long. Keep a positive attitude, and be optimistic. See if the rest of your freshman year will look better. Remember to be open-minded. This city has its own culture; don't try to apply the values from elsewhere or all you'll get will be a slap in the face. Like this
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-03-2014, 09:05 PM
 
46 posts, read 70,820 times
Reputation: 37
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cinema Cat View Post
There's much I like about Seattle, but not its architecture. At least not the newer buildings. So many ugly, skewed boxes, with garish colors. Buildings that look like cubist paintings, or something from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

It's not the sort of architecture that will wear well. Like 1970s fashion, modern Seattle architecture might seem trendy and hip today, but will look ridiculous in a few decades. Blight to be condemned and razed to the ground.

Quite unlike such classic, long-appreciated architecture as those 1930s Art Deco buildings in New York City, Los Angeles, Pasadena, and Miami. Those buildings are keepers.

Your comment surprises me, because I thought that Seattle was famous for its ugly architecture:

How Long Will Seattle's Ugly Townhomes Last? • Seattle Bubble

http://cheap****condos.com/wordpress/
First of all, what you've shown is not any of the show-worthy architecture that is developing here. Some of the better new housing architecture that I've randomly pulled up is like this:

http://freshome.com/2011/02/02/charm...es-in-seattle/

or

http://www.urbnlivn.com/2013/07/10/f...ake-townhomes/

But even if I was to take your example as today's mediocre standard, really how bad is it for mediocre architecture? Compare the houses in your link to the San Francisco architecture in Sunset District and below that was the flavor of the day decades ago and has aged horribly.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=san+f...rce=gplus-ogsb

This sort of ugliness goes on for miles. And its even worse in Daly City. I don't think those living in Seattle will be faced in the near future with massive housing stock which has THAT level of ugliness even if our architecture ages like you predict. Yet, I don't see San Francisco as a whole receiving flak for their more mediocre architecture which is on a far worse level. Many people think its all Painted Ladies there.

And the art deco in Miami IMO is not very impressive, mainly for the fact that they don't appear to have a lot of highlight work and the work I've seen isn't very conspicuous, too subtle (I really don't have much exposure to Miami, so anyone can feel free to show me otherwise). Los Angeles? The city is also built on mostly cheap tract home and a lot of their good housing architecture is built on the same modern and contemporary principles as Seattle architecture, especially around Hollywood.

Keep in mind that plenty of Seattle "modern" architecture was built decades ago and much of it still holds up. And even if ur not into a more cubical design, I think forward thinking should be appreciated even if you don't like the product. Art Deco was big in the 1920's or so. Victorian architecture before then. And so on. But my point is its 2014 and its refreshing that Seattle, Vancouver, and Portland really give an honest effort at utilizing contemporary designs thought up by artists of our age. And my other point I guess is that you get a good consistent quality product in Seattle by today's standards IMO - so that even if you think its a purposeful semi-tract design that some more traditional-minded like yourself may consider tacky and flavor of the day, it doesn't necessarily mean it won't hold up in the future.

Last edited by mak2675; 02-03-2014 at 10:35 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-03-2014, 09:35 PM
 
Location: State of Transition
102,099 posts, read 107,266,232 times
Reputation: 115908
Quote:
Originally Posted by mak2675 View Post
You may have a point, but at least its contemporary. Compare this to the San Francisco architecture in Sunset District and below that was the flavor of the day decades ago and has aged horribly.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=san+f...ce=gplus-ogsbv

This sort of ugliness goes on for miles. And its even worse in Daly City. Seattle has nothing on this sort of consistent ugliness..
Did you look at the rest of the block in that photo? You seem to have focussed on the two houses with slightly unconventional features. The rest of it is standard SF architecture. Even one of the 3 homes in the central part of the photo is "modern" and outside the typical SF mold, so I wonder what your point is. When space is really at a premium, single family homes get crowded together like that. And being that the tradition in CA is "mediterranean", you get designs that will be in that general vein. Most of that type of housing is a lot more attractive than most of Seattle's single-family homes on the lower end of the price range.

Not that this has anything to do with the thread topic, lol!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-04-2014, 09:25 AM
 
46 posts, read 70,820 times
Reputation: 37
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth View Post
Did you look at the rest of the block in that photo? You seem to have focussed on the two houses with slightly unconventional features. The rest of it is standard SF architecture. Even one of the 3 homes in the central part of the photo is "modern" and outside the typical SF mold, so I wonder what your point is. When space is really at a premium, single family homes get crowded together like that. And being that the tradition in CA is "mediterranean", you get designs that will be in that general vein. Most of that type of housing is a lot more attractive than most of Seattle's single-family homes on the lower end of the price range.

Not that this has anything to do with the thread topic, lol!
Agree to disagree. I would much rather take the lower-end form of Seattle architecture than San Francisco ANY day. Not only the two houses, but most of the entire block (which is what I was trying to highlight) IMO was very ugly and so were most of the blocks connected to it. I was trying to show that even in the beautiful city of San Francisco, much of the housing of the masses has aged horribly and is just as crass (and worse IMO) as any widespread form of housing in Seattle. I made sure to select housing that is representative of vast amounts of San Francisco, as that block is representative of Sunset District and southwards down to Daly City and below. Even that region isn't the only section with crass architecture in SF. So I really don't get why Seattle gets all this attention by some for crappy architecture (in my experience mainly by newcomers) when personally I think the lower end housing is of relatively decent quality.

My original point previously was that you don't have to love the people of Seattle to love the city. The people I've talked to from Seattle, with the exception of one person (who said the people are quite friendly), miss the connection they had to the area and its surroundings rather than the everyday people. It has to do with the areas superb quality of life. I personally like the people of California more because I think they are nicer, but I think it has to do with the influence of weather. I also think a slight bit of phoniness might go along with that, too, which you can't overlook.

Keep in mind that it is mainly newcomers (that some may call "transplants") complaining about Seattle Freeze. That tells you that it probably isn't as bad once you establish roots in the area. But it also tells you they haven't been around long enough to appreciate its aspects like its architectural style, the food, the social habits, and just the way things work. Many of them complain about the rain and lack of sunshine, but Seattle receives about as many sunshine hours per year as Venice, Italy. And it isn't like Seattle is forcing you to accept a high threat of violence like other cities or anything like that. There are worse social problems than Seattle Freeze.

Last edited by mak2675; 02-04-2014 at 09:53 AM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-05-2014, 03:27 AM
 
2,401 posts, read 3,247,051 times
Reputation: 1837
Quote:
Originally Posted by mak2675 View Post


Keep in mind that it is mainly newcomers (that some may call "transplants") complaining about Seattle Freeze. That tells you that it probably isn't as bad once you establish roots in the area. But it also tells you they haven't been around long enough to appreciate its aspects like its architectural style, the food, the social habits, and just the way things work. Many of them complain about the rain and lack of sunshine, but Seattle receives about as many sunshine hours per year as Venice, Italy. And it isn't like Seattle is forcing you to accept a high threat of violence like other cities or anything like that. There are worse social problems than Seattle Freeze.

old timers don't complain because they survived, a natural selection process.

having lived in both Seattle and Venice, I find your claim about sunshine hours hard to believe. Venice has a longer summer and longer winter days,
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-05-2014, 04:12 PM
 
Location: Nashville, TN
1,584 posts, read 2,076,079 times
Reputation: 2134
Does this supposed "Seattle Freeze" mainly exist within the city limits or extend to areas outside? My two best friends live in the area (we all used to be roommates at a school in Kentucky and we grew up in Nashville). One lives in Tacoma, the other in Auburn, and they go to the city on weekends for Hawks games and other things but they don't live there. Sure, they have themselves to socialize with, but they have no complaints about the people there. One of them even found a girlfriend....who (shock) was born and raised in Seattle.

I went up there in early November, stayed with them, went into the city on that Saturday for a Sounders game, the next day for the Hawks game and met a lot of cool people. Sure it was socializing but the people were really cool to me anyway. Out in the areas outside of town where they lived, people seemed at polite and nice at least. I'm sure it's different LIVING there, but is the "freeze" not really as much of a big deal in suburban areas?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-05-2014, 04:32 PM
 
2,401 posts, read 3,247,051 times
Reputation: 1837
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drake744 View Post

I went up there in early November, stayed with them, went into the city on that Saturday for a Sounders game, the next day for the Hawks game and met a lot of cool people. Sure it was socializing but the people were really cool to me anyway. Out in the areas outside of town where they lived, people seemed at polite and nice at least.
People being polite is part of the Freeze.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-05-2014, 06:20 PM
 
Location: State of Transition
102,099 posts, read 107,266,232 times
Reputation: 115908
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drake744 View Post
Does this supposed "Seattle Freeze" mainly exist within the city limits or extend to areas outside? My two best friends live in the area (we all used to be roommates at a school in Kentucky and we grew up in Nashville). One lives in Tacoma, the other in Auburn, and they go to the city on weekends for Hawks games and other things but they don't live there. Sure, they have themselves to socialize with, but they have no complaints about the people there. One of them even found a girlfriend....who (shock) was born and raised in Seattle.

I went up there in early November, stayed with them, went into the city on that Saturday for a Sounders game, the next day for the Hawks game and met a lot of cool people. Sure it was socializing but the people were really cool to me anyway. Out in the areas outside of town where they lived, people seemed at polite and nice at least. I'm sure it's different LIVING there, but is the "freeze" not really as much of a big deal in suburban areas?
Reports are that the suburbs (and someone on this forum specifically mentioned Auburn) are friendlier. That's been my experience, too. So far, no theories have been offered as to why that might be. It kind of shoots a hole into the weather theory (gloomy weather = gloomy, withdrawn people). So, go figure.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-05-2014, 06:59 PM
 
Location: Eastside, WA
326 posts, read 822,245 times
Reputation: 76
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drake744 View Post
Does this supposed "Seattle Freeze" mainly exist within the city limits or extend to areas outside? My two best friends live in the area (we all used to be roommates at a school in Kentucky and we grew up in Nashville). One lives in Tacoma, the other in Auburn, and they go to the city on weekends for Hawks games and other things but they don't live there. Sure, they have themselves to socialize with, but they have no complaints about the people there. One of them even found a girlfriend....who (shock) was born and raised in Seattle.

I went up there in early November, stayed with them, went into the city on that Saturday for a Sounders game, the next day for the Hawks game and met a lot of cool people. Sure it was socializing but the people were really cool to me anyway. Out in the areas outside of town where they lived, people seemed at polite and nice at least. I'm sure it's different LIVING there, but is the "freeze" not really as much of a big deal in suburban areas?
plenty of freeze in the burbs, IMO
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Washington > Seattle area

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top